This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

'The other Rocco' was ready to quit mayoral race

You probably know him as the “other Rocco” running for mayor, an irritating label for 31-year-old lawyer Rocco Achampong, who is seen as a rising political star.

Rocco Achampong, known as the mayoral campaign's "other Rocco," has been disillusioned by the race, where he has received no coverage. (CARLOS OSORIO / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

By Robyn DoolittleUrban Affairs Bureau

Sun., June 20, 2010

Rocco Achampong is a frustrated man.

If you happen to know who he is, although chances are you don’t, you probably know him as the “other Rocco” running for mayor.

It’s an irritating label for the 31-year-old lawyer, who in many influential circles is seen as a rising political star.

In his young career, Achampong has been unaccustomed to sharing the spotlight. He’s even less used to sitting in the shadows.

And so on the evening of Feb. 1, when hundreds of supporters assembled at Hart House to watch Achampong launch his campaign, he was dumbfounded that no one from the mainstream media showed up to cover it.

Article Continued Below

In an unlucky timing coincidence, the city hall press gallery was three blocks west at Revival bar, watching an even hotter rising star, Adam Giambrone, announce his (soon-to-be-doomed) mayoral ambitions.

“And it’s pretty much been downhill from there,” Achampong said. “I expected there would be questions about my perceived lack of experience, but I never expected to be ignored. Say I don’t measure up, but don’t you dare dismiss me. That’s how I felt after a while and I slid backwards.”

So while the ordained six “serious” contenders rolled out their platforms, Achampong stopped taking campaign donations.

Earlier this month, he soundly won an online poll, earning a place at the table alongside the frontrunners at the Better Ballots forum.

Achampong spoke eloquently about permanent resident voting issues, partisan politics at city hall and voter apathy. In his final remarks, he said while it was unlikely he would become mayor, he urged the crowd to vote.

“I thought everyone’s reaction in the room was: why have I never heard of this man?” said organizer Dave Meslin, who has since launched an online campaign to have Achampong permanently included. “In a perfect world you’d have all 30 candidates included, but that’s not always practical. It seems to us that at least one qualified candidate is being ignored.”

Meslin points to Achampong’s professional-looking website, custom-designed logo, and the candidate’s thought-out platform, which addresses a range of topics, from arts funding to housing initiatives to road congestion.

Many of the policies are not fully developed, “but to be fair, in the beginning, none of the other campaigns’ policies were either,” said Meslin.

“It’s not up to me to say who should be invited to these debates, but Rocco’s tried from the beginning to be serious. And in some respects, I think he has addressed a broader range of issues than some of the ones on the debating platform,” said Tory, who has moderated several debates so far.

During his own run for mayor, Tory says he prized Achampong.

“People like that you remember. And he has such an unusual story. He’s not the cookie cutter type of person who often ends up on these campaigns,” he said.

Born in Ghana, at nine years old Achampong and his four siblings were smuggled out of the country in the middle of the night after rumours his politically-active mother was about to be arrested. The family moved around, eventually settling in subsidized housing at Black Creek and Trethewey Drs.

It was during this time that Achampong says he made the mistake of his life. At 18, he drove a getaway car in an armed robbery. He spent a year in jail.

Looking for a fresh start, he enrolled at the University of Toronto.

In 2001, he co-founded and became president of the Black Students’ Association. The following year, he was elected student president, left in charge of 41,000 constituents and a $12-million budget. Achampong oversaw one of the most productive administrations in the school’s recent history, a campus paper editorial noted at the time.

After his term, he was a youth representative to Tory’s campaign. Next up it was Osgoode law school. He graduated in 2008 and was called to the bar in January. Four months ago, he opened his own firm out of a tiny sixth-floor office at the corner of Bay and Gerrard Sts.

Some of the city’s most influential leaders, Ryerson president Sheldon Levy, former chief justice Roy McMurtry and the original Rocco, Rocco Rossi, have taken an interest in his success.

At 6 p.m. on this day, Achampong is getting ready to attend So You Think You Can Council, a game show-inspired ward debate hosted by voteTO.

On the walk up Yonge St. to the gay village, Achampong debates withdrawing his name. But with each passing block, he is stopped by twentysomethings of every colour all wanting to know if he is still in the race.

Later on, he bumps into Gwyn Chapman with the Canadian Black Caucus.

“You’re coming to our debate on Saturday? You’re in it. We’ve got you in it,” she calls from across the street.

Achampong turns to a reporter about to write a story about a promising candidate who has given up.

“Okay, I take it back. I don’t know what I was thinking,” said Achampong. “I’m in this to the end.”

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com